derick dillard, Jill Duggar's husband, is under fire for tweeting about Jazz Jennings. In his tweet, the "Counting On" said Jennings, the star of TLC's "I Am Jazz," is actually a male and that transgender is a "myth."
According to Derick, gender is ordained by God and humans have no right to intervene. He also made it known that he had "no problem with him," deliberately misgendering Jazz, which many transgender people took as a serious affront. Derick received plenty of backlash for his words. However, it's likely he feels that he is speaking the truth and has every right to say whatever he wants because it is "the true word of God."
Jazz Jennings speaks out
Jazz Jennings has faced a lot of scrutiny, especially since she has been sharing her story with the world since she was a young girl.
Jazz decided to openly live as a female when she was very small, and her parents put her on hormones to stop her from going through male puberty at an early age. Her show, "I Am Jazz," chronicles her life as a transgender teenager, which many object to as their beliefs are similar to Derick's feelings. The young star has received threatening phone calls and letters. Unfortunately, this type of bullying is nothing new for the youngster.
On Twitter, Jazz made it clear that she wasn't going to let Derick get to her. She states that she is cyber-bullied every day and this was no different. Looking at comments on Jazz's YouTube channel, one can see that Jazz is often the subject of derogatory jokes and language.
She deal with an incredible amount of ignorance on a daily basis.
TLC speaks out in defense of Jazz
Unfortunately for the Dillards, TLC didn't take Derick's side of the argument. Instead, they stated that they were on Jazz's side and that Derick's feelings were not representative of the TLC network. Many fans who watch TLC, however, called for Derick to be fired as a result of his comments, stating that if he were a salaried employee of the company, he would have been axed immediately for his comments.
The cable company has not responded to this request, and it is unlikely that they will fire Derick over this. The Duggar family is one of the most lucrative families on the network, and therefore it would be a form of television suicide to kick them off, despite the fact that their values and morals may not align with those of the TLC network.
There have been no further comments about it from the Duggar camp, though it is likely most agree with Derick.
